“He asked if he could touch me and I let him. We sat on the edge of my bed beside each other. He put one hand on the back of my neck and the other on my leg and as soon as he made contact with my skin something clicked. I knew him. I remembered his name. I had seen him as a child and even as a young teen. I had seen him with my mother a few times too. The thing is: he looked the same in all the memories, like he hadn’t aged a day, you know? It was weird that the younger I was, the more vivid the memory. I could remember details about flowers along a walk I took with him when I couldn’t have been more than 2 years old but I knew I had kissed him when I was 15 or so but couldn’t remember any particulars.”
Minali looked embarrassed for a second but Nathalia pushed that emotion away, urging her to continue. Still Minali looked down at her hands while she restarted her story. “I wanted him. I mean really wanted him. And I could tell he needed something from me too. It was like he was hungry. His eye lit up like flames when I asked him to kiss me. He did and it was crazy good. It felt a little like licking a battery but it was so exciting.
“I’m not usually aggressive at all when it comes to guys but something came over me. I whispered that I wasn’t wearing anything under my nightgown and guided the hand that was on my thigh up, to let him feel.
“He let me lay back on the bed and took his fingers out of me and then tasted them. I wanted him to have sex with me but he wouldn’t. It was fine though, I didn’t feel rejected or anything because he went down on me for like an hour. After that he just laid on the bed next to me. He wouldn’t touch me anymore but he stayed when I ask him to.
“He seemed sad but wouldn’t talk about it. I begged him to let me keep my memory of it, that it was the most amazing sexual experience I’d ever had and, in the morning when I woke up, he was gone. I could remember what happened, even though his face is hazy and his name is gone.
“Like a month later I got the craving to move to Austin and started to feel like there was something wrong about what we had done together that night, something gross like having sex with your brother. I’d been trying to call him to me for a while when the attack happened. I wanted to know if I had made him do it and if he was feeling guilty too. I didn’t want him to feel that way since I was the one who pressured him, but he wouldn’t come back.
“I’ve never had anyone refuse my compulsion. I was trying a new kind of calling to any magical creature like him, thinking I could snare him in a group call. My mother and the other Capacitors were helping me when the fighting started that night.”
Nathalia held nothing back, That man wasn’t really a man. He’s a Nephilim, a powerful, blood thirsty, half god, half human of no less than 8,000 years old. I am the youngest and only female. Each Nephilim has spent his entire lengthy life searching for the one woman he can convert, the one woman who can quench his thirst, share his burden and his life.
My mate found me several months ago and it signified the beginning of the time when each one will find his mate. I suspect that the one that visited you is of your family line. He was sad because you weren’t the one he’s been waiting for and he’ll be alone until he finds her. You did the right thing, being with him, if it was what you wanted. You helped ease his loneliness and hunger.
As far as the guilty feelings: technically he is related to you but it’s more distant than you can even comprehend so I don’t think that matters. I’ll find him for you and make sure he’s okay. Feel free to cherish the memory of your time together and let me assure you that your spell had nothing to do with attracting the violence to your home.
That monster was looking for something that you women had that belonged to me. It was being kept in your sanctuary. You’ve probably seen it; it’s a small dagger made of bone.
“The one with the woman carved in the handle? That was yours?”
Nathalia nodded. I carved it myself. I had a master artisan teach me to inlay copper in the grooves I made.
“It was beautiful. I must have stared at that woman with her golden coppery curls hours a day since I was five. That’s when the Daughters got it. They thought, I mean, they told us it was from the Neolithic age.”
It is.
“But you just said you were just converted not too long ago.”
Yes, that’s right, but I’ve actually lived two lives. Technically she had lived two human lives and then started her third when Eiran had converted her, but she didn’t get into technicalities with Minali. She had just dumped a lot on this woman, more than she’d told anyone before. A woman experienced in the extra-natural world like Minali was taking it all in stride as Nathalia would expect any Daughter of the Sisterhood would. I am going to have a meeting with all the girls of Nephilim family lines who live on the compound and you’ll be included. According to ancient prophecy, all mates will come from “the heart of independent land” “and from wince the first comes, so shall the others.”
Nathalia had a lot to think about and she needed to find this particular Nephilim. Minali had been on her way to Texas. Maybe the prophetess hadn’t mean that all the mates would be from there, but would be found there. We have a lot to talk about, but right now, let’s focus on getting your mother and the others comfortable and safe. Stay with her if that’s what she wants. I’ll go greet the ground crew and get this process started. Welcome home, Minali. And don’t worry. We will get all this worked out.
With that, Nathalia stepped out of the vessel and onto the platform. Down the ramp, Libby, her family, and a couple more waited as she had instructed.
Nathalia had become accustomed to Billy’s unwelcome advances in her human life. As he bound up the steps to meet her, Nathalia knew she had judged him too harshly. Men could be beautiful and good and selfless. Billy was certainly all those things.
It’s good to see you Brother Billy. I wasn’t always fair to you and for that I’m sorry, but I promise those prejudices won’t come up again. There are creatures out there a thousand times worse than men.
BILLY STOPPED on the way up, shocked to hear her voice inside his head. Though he knew she was a Vinco, capable of putting her thoughts in another’s head or overwriting their own will with her own, he had never experienced it. She had always reserved that method of communication for her most beloved female inner circle. A pang of pain passed through his heart at her words though. She had done what he always hoped she would. She’d changed her view on males. Just in time for his voluntary monogamous relationship with his match, whenever he might find her.
His mom warned him that Nathalia would be different but nothing could’ve prepared him for how drastic the change would be. She was still Nathalia but too perfect to be real, almost but not exactly like Nathalia. Her skin was too smooth, her hair too vibrantly colored, her eyes too shiny. Her features were the same when examined individually, but tweaked in some immeasurable way to give an uncanny impression of Nathalia without the authenticity. The tiny chickenpox pit on her forehead was gone but her self-harm scars remained along with a new large scar across her neck. They only served to highlight and accentuate her otherworldliness.
He realized he’d been staring at her slack-jawed and explained, babbling, “Maeve worked her magic on me. My someone is out there somewhere. Now that you’re back, and you have a new outlook on men, I’m bound to a woman I’ve never met. I don’t know who she could be that she could compete with you, Nathalia.”
That’s why you look thrilled to see me and a little devastated too. It isn’t a competition, Billy, and if it were, I would certainly lose. I would be certain to disappoint. I’m very happy for you. Nathalia opened her arms and Billy jogged up the remaining steps to hug her.
She had never allowed him to touch her, much less offered it. Nathalia had never been the one for him. Maybe it was her eerie perfection, but he suddenly didn’t want to touch her anymore. He heard an animal growl in his head and backed away from her. Nathalia’s arms closed like a vice, trapping him. His self-preservation reflex kicked in and he went very still, a
lmost limp as she sniffed his shoulder, neck and hair.
Her voice was like a tickle in his brain, but the growl clawed at his thoughts. It was getting louder and more threatening. The deep furrows it created hurt and made Billy want to start running and never stop. Who have you been with today? she whispered mentally.
“N-no-one. I swear. I haven’t been able to get an erection since Maeve worked her spell.”
Not like that. You met a stranger today. He may have looked like a man, but was an evil creature. Did he take your blood? Ask you to do something?
THE PAIN in Nathalia’s side was sudden and intense where the Akhkharu-influenced-Billy stuck the knife in hilt deep. Nathalia didn’t release him, didn’t worry about the stab, but twisted her body so that the knife, still protruding, was as far from him as possible. She prayed to the ancient ancestress that it was her knife, that Eitan had given it to Billy in hopes that he could take her unaware, even though she knew it couldn’t be. Eitan would never give up the DakuAhu.
The element of surprise spent, Billy held no challenge for Nathalia. She had his arms tied behind him in a heartbeat. She hated to do it, but she punched him right in the face, hard enough to knock him out, but not hard enough to kill him, which would have been easy for her. She laid him on the ramp and jumped to Libby and Leonard. Neither of them had the stench of Akhkharu, though if Billy had come in contact with him, Eitan was here.
She immediately sent the warning to Maeve, Get everyone inside the storage room. Men, women, children, Guardians, everyone. It’s the only place the Akhkharu won’t follow you. Our secrets are less important than keeping everyone safe. Don’t come out until I come down. If a monster manages to get in with you, get everyone inside the golden energy sphere. It won’t be able to cross that border to get to you. I’m on my way.
“You’re hurt, Nathalia.”
Ay, ay, a scratch, a scratch. She joked. There’s no time to explain, Libby, but I need blood.
“I think the first order of business is to get that knife out of her back. This is no place for a blood transfusion anyway. Of course I would give you anything you need, but I’m not a match to your type.”
It doesn’t matter. I promise this won’t hurt. I will only take a little if Leonard would agree to donate also.
Libby’s eyes grew big but she said, “Of course, friend. Leonard loves you as much as I do. Anything you need, please take.”
Nathalia hesitated, but not enough for a human to notice. She had a battle coming up and she needed to feed, but Eiran held the whole beast. Nathalia had never drank blood without the hunger to make it more palatable. She lengthened her incisors and pierced the skin of Libby’s neck quickly, pushing the feeling of pleasure into Libby’s mind, all the while keeping the restrained Billy and free Leonard in her sight.
She should never have worried. The taste of the elder woman’s blood was more than palatable. It was delicious. It was perfectly natural for a Nephilim to enjoy that kind of feast and that was what she was now. She drank as much as she dared before closing off the wounds with her own powerful blood. Leonard willingly offered her his neck, which she silently accepted.
She finished and healed Leonard. Only then did she pull the ordinary kitchen knife from her back. She wiped both sides the blade on her palms and used it to paint the war markings on her face. It was a frightening look to Leonard and Libby, she knew, but would help her portray what she wanted to the betrayer. The wound on her side healed quickly, her abilities heightened by her intake of prana, but not before a good amount gushed out. This too she wiped with her palm, but she didn’t use it. She consumed it. And then she ran.
Only after she was on her way did she send Libby instructions. Do not fear. All will be well. Hunker down in the hanger and don’t come home until I send for you. Billy should be no threat to you now that I am gone, but I’m not as sure about Minali, the Gish Abay survivor. She’s been through a lot and I would appreciate it if you kept them apart just in case. The Akhkharu programed him to harm me and could have done the same for her. Once the monster is dead his hold will be also. Don’t let Billy see her until then.
Nathalia didn’t know how to tabalu, not that she would have given up her added strength before the battle that was about to occur. She ran so fast that no one could see her anyway. She arrived at the gates of the Daughters’ compound before she realized it.
It stood open and the guard station was empty. Not a good sign. Nathalia hoped that her message reached Maeve in time. The scent of gunshot hung in the air and the smell of Akhkharu blood was strong. A few drops had landed on the asphalt drive and steadily burrowed a hole with their acid corruption.
Nathalia ran the length of the drive, passing a couple of drained and mutilated guards along the way. They were good men and deserved better than that sort of death, but at least they were dead. There were few things worse than death, and becoming a Akhkharu’s puppet was one of them. These would never feel the desire to murder their loved ones.
No bodies littered the yard as they had in Ethiopia. The sanctuary was clear, as she expected it to be. The slowly setting sun shone brightly through its plexiglass ceiling, making it impossible for any of Eitan’s children to find a safe hiding place. She was glad she didn’t have to do violence to anyone, even vitala or vrykolak, in their holy asylum. Nathalia went to Maeve’s office, her old personal quarters.
Eitan waited there for her. Unwilling or unable to tabalu, he had to run here, just as she had and was wearing suitable attire. The track suit and tennis shoes were very expensive but looked absurd on the ancient giant. He stood behind the desk flipping through written records, not knowing the wealth of information that lay less than a foot away in Maeve’s laptop. Computers had been invented during the 500 years he had spent underground.
I knew you would be here.
He smiled at her in a way that made her veins feel filled with ice water. “You had to know I would be attracted by the violent echoes of your death.” He took a deep breath, as if enjoying the smell of that hostility. “I am glad our paths did not cross when you were human this time. I would have drained you dry and never known the joy of your augmented blood.”
I’m glad too. Now I can quench your thirst, not just once but, endlessly. The knife, her dagger, lay on the desk in front of him. The beautiful weapon called out to her. Nathalia could remember the weight of it in her hand, how sure it made her feel. She took a step toward it. It and Eitan became a blur.
“Do you take me for a fool? I will need more than your sweet words to convince me of your new allegiance.” His voice came from behind her and she turned to meet his fiery stare.
But we want the same thing…to destroy the Igigi. With the dagger, I can do that.
“Do you want it because you want it or because I am ever in your mind telling you that is what you want? Part of me wants to believe that you really do wish to make war with the Shining Ones. That it is not just me. After all, you don’t seem to want to rape and kill your friend the Holy Mother and I have been polluting your thoughts with those ideas too.”
Nathalia tried not to allow the relief to show on her face or in her body language. She had thought it was her new self that hungered for Maeve’s pain. Maeve is just a human woman. I can slate those thirsts with any one of billions. Ki is over run with human cattle and prostitutes.
They were now locked in a semicircular dance around the room, staying opposite each other, but not making any sudden moves. “Yes, she is a simple human, but her unborn will be like us. She will be… how does it go? ‘She will be called Sarvamata and Yamina Prima as she will be mother to all proper and suitable love to everyone who lays eyes upon her. She will be the true mother of peace and take the throne of her ancestor and will reign over Earth forever; her kingdom will never end.’”
Eitan stopped moving and turned his body to fully face Nathalia. He thumbed the painstakingly detailed carving on the hilt of her dagger, almost absentmindedly. “Ereshkigal, I do not desire proper an
d suitable love. Peace is boring and would be the death of my kind. I came here to make sure her kingdom never begins. It seems they knew I was coming and ran to hide in the one place I cannot follow them.” He began to use the dagger to slice off his clothing. “I was angry at first. Very angry. But then I read something that changed my mind all together. You’ve done the dirty work for me. You are killing the One as we speak. All I have to do is wait here for her mate’s howls of anguish and then we can be on to our next venture, that passion we share. We will make war on the Shinar.”
Nathalia’s mind spun. She was killing the One? How? She quickly scanned the books laying on Maeve’s desk, the ones Eitan had been reading that changed his mind. She recognized one she had written herself. It was about Camilla’s rare and useful healing ability. The ability that removed anything her magic recognized as not belonging inside anyone’s body that happened to be near her. That included fetuses. Eitan was right. Camilla would be charged, unable to control her ability and Maeve was trapped in there with her.
Nanae Raphael, I have need of you again. The Holy Mother is trapped by an Akhkharu in the holy storage room with our own healer whose special brand of magic will force the unintentional abortion of the One. Go to them. Hold the baby to her mother. I will call you all out once I have destroyed the enemy.
Then she spoke to Eitan, True. It is done. Surely my inactivity should convince you of my support for the cause. The One will parish and all we have to do is wait.
Eitan’s eyes glowed red in the relative darkness of the office. His clothing, most definitely stolen, lay in shredded tatters. Totally nude, he was comfortable and she could see that her presence had increased another of his appetites. “Perhaps you could offer me your body while we wait. That would convince me of your support.”
The Dying Art of Magic Page 21
